Report: Windows 8 to have app store

Apparently, seeking out new software using the Google will soon become a bygone fad, like cargo pants and clean beaches in the Gulf. Neowin reports that Microsoft, too, will succumb fully to the app store craze and outfit Windows 8 with a centralized "Windows Store."

If you haven't heard any announcements from Microsoft itself, that's because Neowin bases its report on "documents leaked to the Internet on Monday." One of those documents reportedly says of the Windows Store, "Consumers get applications they want, that they can feel confident in, that they can use on any Windows 8 device." Microsoft will reportedly pimp the concept to developers, too, promising increased reach as well as flexible licensing and "monetization."

Leaked slides posted by Neowin show rough mockups of the Windows Store, with an interface not unlike that of the Zune Marketplace. As far as we can tell, third-party software firms will be able to have their own branded pages, and Microsoft will throw in a social networking aspect, letting users see which apps their friends are using.

This wouldn't be Microsoft's first foray into online distribution; the Microsoft Store has been up for some time now. However, offering users a centralized location to track down and install new software could have its upsides, especially among the less computer-literate. The concept also echoes what Canonical has been doing for years now with the Ubuntu Software Center, which centralizes both software discovery and local management of installed apps.